Senate Republicans are trying to divide Democrats on Thursday with a vote that would pay government workers deemed essential who are working without pay during the shutdown.
It’s the product of Republicans’ discussions about what they could put on the floor to gain some Democratic support after three weeks and counting.
“I literally have no idea how they’re going to argue [against it]. I know a number of them are dreading that vote. As they should,” Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told Semafor.
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Democrats are more interested in something else: a meeting with Trump. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reached out to the president for a meeting. Trump says he’ll do it when the government opens.
A White House official said “they will not have policy conversations while the Democrats are holding the American people hostage.”
